Door seal



1958 G. P. GRIEVE 2,862,263

DQOR SEAL Filed June 22, 1956 FIG, 1

7g 4 2 i 52" 22 v z I '1 26 2 v II 12 I A 3 as i, 42 4 2222:2222; l '77 v INVEN TOR. 39 36 4 40 George Price Grim/6 United States Patent M DOOR SEAL George Price Grieve, Glenview, Iil. Application June 22, 1956, Serial No. 593,071 3 Claims. (Cl. 20-69) This invention relates to a door seal, and more particularly to a door seal particularly adapted to use on heat insulated enclosures, such as ovens.

An object of the invention is to provide a seal of improved construction capable of affording an effective and uniform heat sealing joint around a door or other closure member to which it is applied.

Another and more specific object of my invention is to provide a seal of the aforementioned general character which includes a strip or mass of a relatively soft and matted material which is heat resistant and preferably has heat insulating characteristics and is adapted to use in association with a resilient element, such as a metal strip, having a portion which cooperates with and penetrates to a substantial depth into the matted material.

A further object is to provide a seal of the character described, in which, in one form .of the invention, the penetrating action of the metal strip is the result of its inherent resilience, and in another form, the strip is of bimetallic material and its construction and arrangement and penetrating action are such that its tendency to penetrate the engaged material are increased by the action of heat thereon.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. l is a perspective view of an oven to which the door seal of the invention is applied;

Fig. 2 is a large scale fragmentary sectional view of a portion of the structural parts of the oven between which the seal is disposed, and

Fig. 3 is an end sectional view of a metal strip adapted to use in one form of my invention.

Having referenceto the drawings, wherein exemplary embodiments of my invention are depicted for illustrative purposes, the specific structure disclosed, and to which my door seal is applied, is an oven. Actually, the seal is not limited to application to an oven, but can be applied to any of various devices having two members between which it is desired to effect a separable sealed joint. One of the features of the disclosed structure is that in one aspect of the invention it provides an increased sealing effect as a result of a change in temperature, and for that reason it has particular utility on an oven closure.

The oven referred to is shown as a whole at 10, and includes a wall 12 having an opening 14 therein. The oven has a door 16 which serves as a closure member for the opening. It may be appreciated that for adaptation to the use of my disclosed seal, the opening may be closed by any of various specific forms of closure members, whether in the form of a hinged door, one or more drawer fronts, removable panels, and the like. In each instance, the closure member (door 16) is fitted to the opening in a wall, and has a peripheral portion fitted to and overlying a marginal portion of'the wall which defines the opening. In the present instance, the door 16 has such a peripheral portion 18 which, when the door is closed,

2,862,263 Patented Dec. 2, 1958 is secured to the door 16 and the member 26 is secured to the wall 12, but it will-be understood that the relative positions may be reversed, i. e. the member 24 secured to the wall and the member 26 may be secured to the door. For the sake of simplicity, and with such understanding, the following description refers to the specific arrangement shown in the drawing.

The members 24 and 26 of the sealing means are in the form of strips whichentirely encircle the area to be sealed, for example, in the present case, the opening in the oven. The member 24 is secured to the peripheral portion 18 of the door, and includes a channel strip 28 having a web 30 and side flanges 32. The web is secured directly to the door and the side flanges 32 converge in an outward direction. The securing of the web to the door 7 may be by spot welding or other suitable means.

Disposed and held in the channel 28 is amass of material 34 having desired sealing and heat resistant characteristics, as well as being relatively soft and possessing resiliency and yieldability. This mass may be any of several kinds, and preferably is in the form of a matted mass of fibrous material, such as matted asbestos fibers or fiber glass, which may be treated with silicone. The converging relation of the side flanges aids in holding the fibrous material in the channel, but it may be secured therein by additional means, such as by a suitable cement or adhesive material. This material 34 is of substantial depth in direction transverse to the door and flange 30, i. e., in the direction between the members to be sealed. Preferably the matted mass extends at least to the open side of the channel and preferably therebeyond for contact with the wall portion 20 adjacent the door opening for effective sealing in cooperation with the counterpart sealing member 26. j

' The sealing member 26 is in the form of a metal strip, generally of U-shaped cross section having a first or inner leg portion 36 and a second orouter leg portion 38 reversely bent on the first leg portion and having a normal positionspaced from the latter. The first leg portion 36 is fitted to and secured to the outer surface of the oven wall and may have a flange portion 40 bent at an angle for securement to the surface of the wall of the cavity in the door opening of the oven, for aiding in locating and securing the strip 'to' the oven 'wall. "The second leg portion 38 has at its free or extended end a flange 42 normally disposed substantially at right angles to the leg portion and directed outwardly from the oven wall.

The two members 24 and 26 of the sealing means are so relatively located that when the door or closure member is in its closed position, as shown in Fig. 2, the flange 42 is disposed between the side extremities, or substantially at the mid-point, of the exposed fibrous mate rial 34, and extends into the fibrous material. The fibrous material is of such depth as to readily enable penetration of the flange thereinto to the full dimension of the flange, and a portion of the fibrous material preferably also engages the outer leg portion 38. The spacing between the free or swinging edge of the outer leg portion 38 and the inner leg portion 36 is such that when the closure member is moved to closed position, the outer leg portion 38 can yield appreciably in response to the closing movement. The metal strip forming the member 26 of the sealing means is preshaped for biasing the outer leg portion 38 outwardly into effective sealing engagement with the fibrous material 34. The yield- 3 ability of'the leg portion 38, together with the resiliency andyieldability 'of'the fibrous material'34 effects uniform sealing engagement throughout the linear extent of the sealing means, notwithstanding any tendencies from other sources todiminishthe sealing effect.

If desired, positive, limiting means may lie-interposed between the door or'other closuremember. and the wall, so that all of'the force of the door in closing. direction will not be'imposed' on the sealing strip, or member 26. Such positive limiting means'may be provided without impairing the sealing effect of the sealing means as described herein.

The'strip 26 may be asuitable metal, such as stainless steel, of uniform composition and capable of producing an -outwardly-biasing efiectby its pre-shapedcondition.

It is also contemplatedwithin the scope of the invention to provide a metal strip such as 26 which is made of bimetal, as illustrated at 44 in Fig. 3.v The strip 44 assumes-the same shape as the strip 26 but is made .up of layers 46- and 48 of materials having different coeflicients of thermal expansion, in a manner well-known. This bimetallic sealing strip 44' has particular utility in structures, such as ovens, wherein elevated temperatures are encountered. The bimetal strip is heated as a result of the oven heat and flexes as a result of the heat in a direction away from the wall and toward the door flange as the temperature rises. This action causes the flange 42 to penetrate deeper into the material 34 withconsequent increased sealing effect as the temperature rises. At the same time the leg portion 38 itself more firmly engages the material 34 with consequent increased sealing pressure. An additional resultis that the flange 42 swings counterclockwise and toward the outer leg portion 38 and grips or pinches a portion of the, material 34 between itself and.the leg portion. This action also produces a greater sealing effect.

It is understood that the foregoing description is merely illustrative of a preferred embodiment of the invention and that the scope of the invention, is not to be limited thereto but is to be determined by the appended claims.

I'claim:

1. A structure of the character disclosed comprising a wall member having an opening therein, a closure member fitted tov said openingand mounted relative to the, wall member for movement to and, from a positionfor closing thev opening, .saidsclosure member having. a mar.- ginal portion thereonwhich. overlaps a marginalportion of the wall member encompassingthe opening, the marginal portion of one of said. members having secured thereto a channelwith outwardly. converging side wallsv which grip and hold a mass of,re1atively soft heat re sistant and heat insulating material in the form of astrip having substantial depth and width facing the other member, said strip of material providing a first continuous marginal sealing element on said one of the members, the marginal portion of the other member having secured thereto a resilient metal sealing strip providing a second continuous marginal sealing element engageable with the strip of material of the said first sealing element when the closure element closes the opening to establish a separable peripheral closure seal around the opening, said resilient metal sealing strip having a portion of substantially U-shaped section, one side of which is secured against said marginal portion of the other member with the U-shaped'section extending laterally of the said marginal portion and withthe. other side thereof spaced outwardly and free to flex relative to the said marginal portion, and said other side of the resilient metal sealing strip having a flange thereon projecting away from the marginal portion ofrsaid other member for engaging and pressing into said strip, of material when the closure element closes the opening.

2. A structure as defined in claim 1, and wherein said metal sealing strip comprises bimetal which flexes in response to temperature change to tighten the engagement between said flange and said strip of material.

3. In a separable seal for effecting tight closure between relatively movable members having overlapping marginal faces in opposed relationship to one another, the combination comprising, a first sealing element secured to the said marginal face of one of said members, said first sealing elementembodying a strip of relatively soft and resilient heat-resistant and heat insulating material' having substantial thickness and width, and means for securing said strip to said marginal face of. one of the members, and a second sealing element secured to the said marginal face of the other of said members and having a portion aligned for longitudinal engagement with the lateral mid-portion of said strip, said second sealing element constituting a bimetallic strip of substantially U-shaped section with one side of the U-shaped section secured against said marginal face and the other side thereof spaced away from said face, and the latter mentioned side having a marginal flange extending longitudinally thereof. and projecting angularly therefrom at a;

position for having edge contact with the mid-portion of said strip.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,908,623 Barringer May 9, 1933 2,095,477 Radford Oct. 12, 1937 2,387,360 Smith Oct. 23, 1945 2,516,202 Graham July 25, 1950 2,644,989 Parkes July 14, 1953 

